Interest rates pass a year on hold at record lows

It is the longest period of official interest rate stability since 2006.

AAP

The official cash rate been on hold for a year at a record low 2.5 per cent, with the Reserve Bank again leaving it unchanged at today's board meeting.

The bank cut the cash rate to 2.5 per cent in August last year, and has left it there since in an attempt to spark a recovery in home building and household consumption that might offset a downturn in mining construction.

It is the longest period of rate stability since the bank left the cash rate on hold at 5.5 per cent for just over a year between a rate rise in March 2005 and another 25-basis-point rate increase in May 2006.

The decision to leave rates unchanged did not surprise analysts - with all 32 surveyed by Bloomberg expecting rates to stay on hold this month.

Barclays economist Kieran Davies says the statement was very similar to recent ones, but perhaps just a tiny bit more upbeat.

"On the whole, they seemed content to keep things steady for the time being," he told Reuters.

"I've got them steady through to end of this year and then starting to hike in Q1 [the first quarter of 2015], assuming the economy improves."

One of the few modest tweaks is in relation to home prices, where Mr Stevens this month noted that the increase "has been slower this year than last", compared to July's, "dwelling prices have increased significantly over the past year, though there have been some signs of a moderation in the pace of increase recently."